Legal claims defining the scope of protection. Each claim is shown in both the original legal language and a plain English translation.
1. A method of detecting spam activity in a cloud service, the cloud service hosted on a server, the server having a first digital object and a second digital object stored thereon, the server being accessible, via a communication network, by a plurality of users of the cloud service, the method executable by the server, the method comprising: receiving from a first user of the plurality of users of the cloud storage service an indication of a first sharing action for sharing access to the first digital object; responsive to the first indication, incrementing a first sharing counter value of a first sharing counter dedicated to the first digital object, the first sharing counter being indicative of total sharing actions associated with the first digital object across all of the user accounts of the cloud storage service; receiving from a second user of the plurality of users of the cloud storage service an indication of a second sharing action for sharing access to the first digital object; responsive to the second indication further incrementing the first sharing counter value of a first sharing counter dedicated to the first digital object; responsive to the first sharing counter value reaching a pre-determined threshold value, executing a spam preventive action associated with the first digital object; the second digital object having a second sharing counter associated therewith, the second sharing counter being indicative of total sharing actions associated with the second digital object across all of the user accounts of the cloud storage service; and the first sharing counter and the second sharing counter being incremented independently therebetween in response to sharing actions associated with their associated first digital object and second digital object.
A method for detecting spam activity in a cloud service hosted on a server. The server stores digital objects and is accessible by multiple users. The method involves: receiving a sharing indication from a first user for a first digital object; incrementing a sharing counter for that object, tracking total sharing actions across all user accounts; receiving another sharing indication from a second user for the same object; further incrementing the sharing counter; triggering a spam prevention action when the counter reaches a threshold. A second digital object has its own independent sharing counter, incremented separately based on its own sharing activity. The counters track total sharing across all user accounts for their respective digital objects.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein each one of the first user and the second user is respectively associated with a first user account and a second user account in a cloud service.
The spam detection method from the previous description includes that the first and second sharing users each have individual accounts on the cloud service. These accounts are tracked, and sharing actions are attributed to these distinct user accounts when incrementing the sharing counters.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first digital object and the second digital object is one of: a file, and a folder containing at least one file.
In the spam detection method from the first description, the digital objects being shared can be files or folders containing files. The method applies equally to individual files and aggregated collections of files within folders.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first digital object has been previously uploaded to the server by at least one of the first user and the second user.
In the spam detection method from the first description, the first digital object (the one being shared) was previously uploaded to the server by at least one of the users who are now sharing it (either the first or the second user).
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein both the first user and the second user have access to the first digital object.
In the spam detection method from the first description, both the first user and the second user already have access to the digital object before the sharing actions occur.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sharing action includes at least one of: generating a public link associated with one of the first digital object and the second digital object; sending a public link associated with one of the first digital object and the second digital object to one or more public users; and sending to one or more invited users an invitation to join a shared access to one of the first digital object and the second digital object.
In the spam detection method from the first description, a sharing action includes generating a public link for a digital object, sending that link to public users, or sending invitations to specific users to access the shared digital object. These actions trigger the sharing counter increments.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the at least one of the first sharing counter and the second sharing counter is additionally configured to be incremented responsive to at least one of: an invited user accepting an invitation to join the shared access to the respective one of the first digital object and the second digital object, and a public user accessing the digital object through the public link associated with the respective one of the first digital object and the second digital object.
Expanding on the sharing action types in the spam detection method, the sharing counters are incremented when invited users accept shared access invitations or when public users access a digital object via a public link. The counters track both the initiation and the acceptance/usage of sharing mechanisms.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein prior to the receiving from the first user of the plurality of users of the cloud service the indication of the first sharing action, the method further comprises: receiving from the first user a first upload action for a first version of the first digital object; receiving from the second user a second upload action for a second version of the first digital object; and executing a de-duplication process to store a single instance of the first digital object, the single instance accessible to both the first user and the second user.
Before the first sharing action in the spam detection method, the method includes deduplication. A first user uploads a version of the digital object, then a second user uploads another version. A deduplication process stores only a single instance of the object, accessible to both users, preventing redundant storage of identical files.
9. The method of claim 8 further comprising storing only the single instance of the first digital object on the server.
Expanding on the deduplication from the previous description, the method specifically only stores the single, deduplicated instance of the digital object on the server, ensuring storage efficiency.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein executing the de-duplication process comprises: responsive to determining that the first version of the first digital object and the second version of the first digital object are the same, discarding a selected one of the first version of the first digital object and the second version of the first digital object, the selected one being a later received version of the first digital object.
In the deduplication process from the earlier description, if the two versions of the digital object are identical, the server discards the version that was uploaded later, retaining only the first uploaded instance as the single version.
11. The method of claim 8 , wherein each of a first user account associated with the first user and a second user account associated with the second user are assigned a link pointing to the single instance of the first digital object.
Extending the deduplication process from previous descriptions, user accounts for both users are assigned pointers or links to this single stored instance of the digital object. This allows both users to access what appears to be their own version, even though only one copy exists on the server.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the spam preventive action comprises at least one of: transmitting an indication of the first digital object and the associated sharing actions to a human assessor; blocking the first digital object for sharing; blocking the first digital object for access; deleting the first digital object; blocking at least one user account of one of the first user and the second user; sending a warning notification to one of the first user and the second user; sending a notification indicating a potential spam distribution to public users; and sending a notification indicating a potential spam distribution to users invited to join a shared access to the first digital object.
The spam prevention action from the first description can include: notifying a human reviewer, blocking the digital object from further sharing or access, deleting the object, blocking a user account, sending warnings to sharing users or public users, or sending a notification of potential spam distribution.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first sharing counter and the second sharing counter dedicated to respective one of the first digital object and the second digital object is associated with a respective one of a first time parameter and a second time parameter.
The sharing counters from the spam detection method are associated with time parameters, such as how long it takes to reach a particular count. This temporal aspect adds another layer for spam detection, beyond just the raw share count.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the first time parameter and the second time parameter is indicative of a time taken to reach the respective one of the first sharing counter value of the first sharing counter and a second sharing counter value of the second sharing counter.
In the spam detection method, the time parameter tracks how long it took for the sharing counter to reach its current value, indicating the speed of sharing activity.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the at least one of the first time parameter and the second time parameter is indicative of an average incrementing speed of the respective one of the first sharing counter and the second sharing counter.
The time parameter used in conjunction with sharing counters represents the average incrementing speed of the counter, indicating how quickly the digital object is being shared over time.
16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising, prior to the executing a spam preventive action associated with one of the first digital object and the second digital object, assessing the respective one of the first time parameter and the second time parameter associated with the respective one of the first sharing counter and the second sharing counter dedicated to the respective one of the first digital object and the second digital object.
Before triggering a spam prevention action, the spam detection method assesses the time parameter associated with the sharing counter, looking at the speed of sharing in addition to the number of shares.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein assessing the respective one of the first time parameter and the second time parameter associated with the respective one of the first sharing counter and the second sharing counter comprises comparing the respective one of the first time parameter and the second time parameter to a time parameter threshold value.
Assessing the time parameter involves comparing it to a predefined threshold value. This helps determine if the sharing speed is abnormally fast, which could indicate spam activity.
18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising executing a spam preventive action associated with one of the first digital object and the second digital object only responsive to the respective one of the first time parameter and the second time parameter exceeding the time parameter threshold value.
A spam prevention action is only triggered if the time parameter (sharing speed) exceeds the pre-defined threshold value, confirming rapid sharing indicative of potential spam.
19. The method of claim 17 , further comprising executing a spam preventive action associated with one of the first digital object and the second digital object only responsive to the time parameter threshold value exceeding the respective one of the first time parameter and the second time parameter.
A spam prevention action is only triggered if the time parameter threshold is higher than the time parameter, showing that a slow parameter warrants an action.
20. A server configured to detect spam activity in a cloud service, the server comprising: a communication interface for communication with an electronic device via a communication network, the electronic device being associated with one of a plurality of users of a cloud service provided by the server; an interface module; a user account module; a storage unit; a processor operationally connected with the communication interface, the user interface module, the user account module and the storage unit, the processor configured to cause the memory module to store a first digital object, the processor being further configured to: receive from a first user of the plurality of users of the cloud service an indication of a first sharing action for sharing access to the first digital object; responsive to the first indication, increment a first sharing counter value of a first sharing counter dedicated to the first digital object, the first sharing counter being indicative of total sharing actions associated with the first digital object across all of the user accounts of the cloud storage service; receive from a second user of the plurality of users of the cloud service an indication of a second sharing action for sharing access to the first digital object; responsive to the second indication further increment the first sharing counter value of the first sharing counter dedicated to the first digital object; responsive to the first sharing counter value reaching a pre-determined threshold value, execute a spam preventive action associated with the first digital object; and to cause the memory module to store a second digital object, the second digital object having a second sharing counter associated therewith, the second sharing counter being indicative of total sharing actions associated with the second digital object across all of the user accounts of the cloud storage service; and to increment the first sharing counter and the second sharing counter independently therebetween in response to sharing actions associated with their associated first digital object and second digital object.
A server detects cloud service spam by having a communication interface for user devices, a user interface and account module, storage, and a processor. The processor stores digital objects and: receives sharing indications from users; increments sharing counters for objects, tracking actions across accounts; triggers spam prevention when a counter reaches a threshold. The server maintains independent counters for each object and increments them based on their respective sharing activity.
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October 10, 2017
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